


The King and the Snake

by The_gay_snake



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Bedtime Stories, Crying, Kid Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders, Not Beta Read, Past Relationship(s), Sad Ending, Sad and Happy, Sorry Not Sorry, Story within a Story, enjoy this, there is slight pain
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-17
Updated: 2020-08-17
Packaged: 2021-03-06 06:34:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,611
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25948930
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_gay_snake/pseuds/The_gay_snake
Summary: Remus is scared of the dark, so after Janus gives him a nightlight, he asks for a story, The King and the Snake.
Relationships: Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders & Deceit | Janus Sanders
Kudos: 16





	The King and the Snake

"Janus- Jay- Janus-" that was all the teen in the bed heard, his room still pitch black even opening his eyes.

"What do you want Remus," he asked, groggy from just waking up.

"I want to sleep in the living room," the little kid, who was almost five, said, holding onto the blankets of Janus's bed.

Said teen sat up, looking at Remus in the dark room, knowing where he stood. "You can't Rem, you have to sleep in your room."

"But it's dark," the little kid's voice wavered.

"Then i can get you a night light." Janus sat up, careful not to kick Remus. He snapped and his lamp came on, spilling a yellow light all around the room. "Why don't you show me what the problem is?"

Remus nodded, taking Janus's hand. He dragged him down the hall, well, their part of the hall, to his bedroom.

Janus knew what was going on when the light near his room started dimming, when he stopped being invited to breakfast every morning, and even when a sleeping child was thrust in his arms and he was told it was "bad creativity". The green door had shown up not even an hour later, and just as dark and scary as Patton thought the child was.

Thomas was growing up, he was already 16, and every day he became more aware of his surroundings and other people. This meant he was learning right from wrong, good from bad. And dark from light.

And being part of what Thomas considered dark, was bad when you are taking care of a child who is afraid of the dark.

"Now, where would you like your light to be?" Janus asked. The little kid pointed to a spot next to his bed. "Right here?"

"Yes," Remus nodded triumphantly. "Right there is the perfect spot."

"If you say so, Dukie," Janus smiled to himself, waving his hand over the wall space. "Better?" The child nodded. "Good, now into bed,"

Remus climbed into his tall bed, almost not being able to reach. "Janus, why can't I go outside?" He asked, talking about going to the other side of the hallway, through the door Janus had put up.

"It's not safe for you out there," Janus said, tucking Remus in.

Remus nodded, but there were tears in his eyes. "I, I want to see Roman again," Remus didn't remember much about the other side of the door, but Roman was hard to forget. He looked really similar to Remus, only with brown eyes, and a red t-shirt, not a green one like Remus.

"I know," Janus got into the bed next to him. "I want you to be able to see him, but you could get hurt."

"But what if he is hurt?" Remus wondered. Janus shook his head, ruffling Remus's hair. "Then I will go and bite whoever it is," he opened his mouth to reveal sharp fangs.

Remus was giggling as Janus tucked him in. "Can you tell me a story?" He asked after calming his giggles.

"A story? Well I don't know many good-"

"The snake and the king!" Remus cut him off. "Tell the one about the snake and the king!"

Janus rolled his eyes fondly. "Again?"

"Please?" Remus asked, doing the large eyes even Janus couldn't resist.

"Fine," Janus sighed. "But only this once." He got comfortable on the bed, Remus laying his head on his legs.

"Once upon a time, in a far away kingdom, a king named Romulus was looking for someone to rule his kingdom with him, as he was very lonely. So, he told his guards to call all people to the castle, young and old, and he would pick someone to rule with him and be his best friend.

That night, hundreds of people came to the castle, but no one was chosen to be the king's best friend. "You know not one of these people," said the head guard. "How do we know they are not lowly thieves?"

Romulus thought for a moment. "Why not have a test? Bring a chest of gold and jewels to me, and we shall see who is worthy of ruling with me."

The guard did as he was asked, and brought a chest full of gold coins and sparkling jewels to the king. "What is this for?" The guard asked.

Romulus stood, walking to the balcony that looked over the ballroom which held all the people. "Everyone," he called, gaining the attention of the kingdom. "I have a challenge."

Whispers broke out among the people, all of them wondering what the challenge would be. "The first person to successfully get one piece of treasure from the chest up here-" Romulus grabbed a handful of treasure to show where the chest was. "-and bring it to me on the other side of the room, will become my partner in ruling the kingdom."."

Janus paused for a moment to catch his breath. "How was that a good challenge?" Remus asked, looking at Janus confused. "Couldn't people just come up and steal it then run? That would just prove they were a thief,"

"I like that you are asking questions," Janus smiled, ruffling Remus's hair. "But should we finish the story?"

Remus nodded excitedly.

"Now, the guards had the same questions you did, and they asked the king what to do if people tried to steal the treasure.

"I did not tell them how to get it, and note that I did not say steal. Anyone who tries to get the treasure by force shall be removed from the party. Yet if they ask nicely, and are humbled, they shall be granted access." Romulus told the guards.

So he walked down the stairs to the other end of the room. "You may start," he said to the people, and he watched as they all ran to the treasure.

As he thought, most people tried to get the treasure by force, trying to fight the guards. One by one people were escorted out, the numbers dwindling. After twenty minutes no one had yet to take the king one piece of treasure. There were now very few people in the ballroom, but he had no doubt there would soon be only one person left.

He didn't mean to hurt anyone's feelings with the challenge, and would make a community apologize the next day, explaining how the challenge was won, but for now he waited. He was correct in his theory about being one person left, as the second to last person was just then escorted out.

The last guest was still in his seat, feet on the table as he lounged. This interested the King, so he made his way over to this man. When he got closer he could see scales covering half of his face, and a black hat hid his hair from view.

"Why did you not go for the treasure?" Romulus asked the man, standing next to him.

"You never explained the rules." The man said. "You said get the treasure, but didn't say how. Everyone rushed, trying to take it by force, so I let them. But that isn't how the game is played, is it?" A sly smile crossed the stranger's face. "You don't like stealing or doing things by force, so why would you want your partner to?" He stood up, facing the king.

Romulus nodded. "You are correct in your thinking."

"That means," the stranger walked up the stairs, getting to the top. "Excuse me, may i please pass you? I wish to bring the king his treasure."

The guards moved aside, letting the scaled man take a treasure from the chest, picking a ruby ring. He went back down the stairs, smirking as he handed the treasure to the king. "You play by different rules,"

"What is your name?" Romulus asked, happy that someone had figured out how to play the game.

"I have been called many names, but most commonly, I am known as Deceit." The stranger answered.

"Well, Deceit, you have earned your place as my fellow ruler," the king extended a hand to Deceit. "Let's get to know each other.

And they did, Romulus and Deceit became the best of friends. Soon, they were barely ever seen without each other. They loved each other like no one had expected, but that was ok with them. And they lived happily ever after."

"Is that a true story?" Remus asked after Janus was done.

Janus nodded. "It was,"

"Then what happened to the king and Deceit?" The child asked. Janus looked down at Remus, a sad smile on his face.

"The king went off into battle one evening and never returned. Deceit was left to run the kingdom on his own, and he did his best, but it wasn't the same without Romulus there." Janus said, standing up and covering Remus.

"I want to go find the kingdom, maybe i can help find the king!" Remus said.

Janus couldn't look Remus in the eye. "You could try, but i don't think you would have much luck."

"Well, i'm still going to try,"

"That sounds like a plan. Goodnight, Remus."

"Night, Janus!" And with that Janus left Remus's room, knowing he would stay in his bed after the story.

He made sure he was in his room before the tears began to roll down his face, looking over at the one picture he kept on his wall. It was of him and another boy, both of them wearing crowns. Janus had his arm around the boy's waist, and the boy had his arm around Janus's shoulders.

"You can try,"

**Author's Note:**

> I haven't done sad endings in a while, i hope you all enjoyed that. I really love fairy tales, so i had fun writing this one. Let me know what you guys think! Ok, goodbyeeeee 💜


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